UCLA tailback Chiris Markey (28) runs the ball up the center weaving through the Oregon State Beavers defense at the Rose Bowl. RYAN HODGSON-RIGSBEE, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

UCLA EXTRA

Catching a streakMarcus Everett has caught at least one pass in 19 of the last 20 games and has an active streak of 15 games. Junior Taylor has caught at least one pass in 23 of the last 24 games he has played and has a streak of 12 in a row.

Turned overUCLA won the turnover battle, 4-2, against Oregon State. UCLA is now 17-2 when it wins the turnover battle under Coach Karl Dorrell, including 4-2 this year (victories over Utah, Stanford, Arizona and Oregon State, losses at Washington and Oregon).

THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

PASADENA - It had been awhile since UCLA had won a football game, five very long weeks.

And at the end of a 25-7 victory over Oregon State on Saturday at the Rose Bowl, they were acting like they had no idea what it was like.

They were called for two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties in the final three minutes, and after the final play, tackle Kevin Brown was scuffling with a Beavers' lineman.

But that was, to some degree, all part of the plan to regain some swagger, respect or whatever had been missing through consecutive losses at Oregon, at Notre Dame, against Washington State and at Cal.

"We talked about it all week, we wanted to get our swagger back," middle linebacker Christian Taylor said. "I told the guys, 'Go talk trash - talk trash all game and don't stop.' We got some personal fouls and whatever, but that's on me. That's my fault. We had fun. We were talking, we were running, we were hitting, and that's who we are as a defense."

The Bruins also had a personal foul call among 13 penalties for 155 yards, both season highs, and Coach Karl Dorrell thought it dumb.

"That's not our style; that's never been our style," he said. "That's not the style of play that I'm ever excited about."

But there was no question it was effective, with the Bruins' defense shutting down an Oregon State offense that featured the second-leading rusher in the Pac-10 (Yvenson Bernard) and the leading receiver in the conference by yards per game (Sammie Stroughter).

The Beavers, who entered the game with a four-game winning streak (including a victory over No. 7 USC), could gain only a season-low 260 yards of total offense. Bernard, who came in averaging 101.5 yards per game, was held to 54 yards on 16 plays, 3.4 per carry. Stroughter, who came in averaging 96.1 yards per game, caught only four passes for 51 yards.

UCLA actually made plays, and tackled much better.

And that was not the only significant difference in the Bruins, who had failed miserably at times trying to match the play-making abilities of their previous four opponents.

It was the Beavers who made the mistakes in a critical third quarter, not the Bruins. And it was the Bruins who capitalized on those mistakes, not their opponent.

Faced with a fourth-and-1 on the opening series of the second half, leading 7-6, Oregon State coach Mike Riley decided to go for a first down at the Beavers' 48-yard line rather than punt the Bruins deep into their territory. But the play was busted, almost from the start. Quarterback Matt Moore said there was miscommunication on the play, and the blocking scheme got mixed up.

Tackle Brigham Harwell burst through the line and nailed Bernard for a loss of 3 yards.

"It made me mad," said Harwell, who had two other stops behind the line. "We were supposed to be off the field, but they wanted to try our defense. People were saying we fell off the map and we had lost our swagger. We wanted to show them that our defense was still here."

Riley said he thought it was worth the risk - the Beavers had run for 3.7 yards per play in the first half.

"We were at midfield, so it wouldn't be a catastrophe," Riley said. "It turned out to be."

It turned very quickly.

On the Bruins' next play Pat Cowan, who had completed only 8 of 16 passes for 44 yards and struggled in the first half, lofted a perfect pass to Marcus Everett running wide open down the left sideline. The 45-yard touchdown pass gave the Bruins a 13-7 lead, which they added onto in the fourth quarter with an 11-yard pass from Cowan to Everett and two field goals.

"My eyes got big. I was really excited. It's not often that we call a play like that," Everett said of the first touchdown. "But we knew that we had a good matchup with their (defensive backs), and we knew that they were going to be in press coverage a lot. We saw that they were in press and took a shot. I just ran past the guy and made the catch."

The cornerback on the play, Brandon Hughes, was nowhere.

"I just saw the ball and I ran under it," Everett said. "He was running with me, but Pat threw the ball inside because it was a post route. He was beat by a couple of steps, so there was no way he could get to the ball."

With the victory, there still is a way for the Bruins to get to a bowl game. They are 5-5 and 3-4 and in a three-way tie for sixth place in the Pac-10 with Arizona and Arizona State.

Next week, UCLA will play the Sun Devils at Tempe, Ariz., in a rejuvenated state.

"We talked about it," strong safety Chris Horton said. "We sat down during the week and met, and we just said we have to re-establish ourselves. And we did that tonight."

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